


Sealed Memories

by Fairin



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25183555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairin/pseuds/Fairin
Summary: A girl awakens, remembering nothing about herself, in a place she knows nothing of. Curious about her past, she makes it her goal to uncover her story.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Sealed Memories

Slowly, very slowly, Nina opened her eyes, moving a hand to cover them from the brightness of the sun as she slowly came to her senses. The black-haired girl was lying in the grass, a gentle breeze blowing through her hair as she slowly sat up, looking around. After all, Nina had a problem. She had no idea where she was or how she got here. In fact, remembering… pretty much anything was difficult, the girl’s head aching if she tried to recall anything about herself. She could recall her name – Nina – as well as some other important details about herself, but her past was all a blur to her.

Still, though, Nina decided to concern herself with herself later. Sitting around in the grass would not really help her remember herself, after all, and trying to find out where exactly she was had taken priority for her. After all, she would need to find a place to stay, for one, as spending the night outside did not seem particularly appealing to the girl. For all she knew, there could be dangerous creatures out here, and she was unarmed and unwilling to take any chances.

And so, Nina slowly stood up, looking around to try and find out where to go first. She seemed to be on the side of a hill, with almost endless grasslands ahead, occasionally broken up by small clusters of trees and other hills, but no signs of life. To her left, there were more forests, while a lake lay off in the distance to her right. So, with no obvious destination in sight yet, Nina instead turned around, climbing to the top of the hill in the hopes of finding a place to travel to from there instead. And fortunately, she found one.

Off in the distance, not too far away, lay what appeared to be a small town. Surrounded on one side by large farmlands, and with a small stream running through it. It had a stone wall, preventing Nina to get a good view of the main town, though the wall did not surround the entirety of the town. There were still plenty of buildings outside of it, leaving the girl to guess that either the town had grown a lot since the wall was built, or that it only protected the more important parts of the town. Either way, it seemed like the best place to go for now, so Nina did just that, carefully making her way down the town, brushing off her purple dress to try and make sure she didn’t look too much like a mess.

This, however, made Nina freeze for a moment. She had not even considered checking her clothes for anything, let alone inspect herself for injuries! Looking down at herself, her first concern were injuries, though as far as she could tell from a simple check there were none. So, she went to look for anything else of interest she had on her person. Her dress had no pockets… but she wore a cloak too, a large, maroon cloak. This did have pockets, both on the inside and the outside, but a quick check revealed only a few coins in one of the many pockets on the inside of her cloak. It probably would not be valid currency wherever she had ended up, but it was worth keeping around in her opinion, so she moved them to one of her outside pockets and closed her cloak again. Briefly she considered pulling up her hood as well, but she decided against it, worried it would make her look suspicious.

Sighing at having found pretty much nothing of use, Nina continued her way down the hill. She was at least partially hesitant to enter the town, however, as she had no idea what to expect. Would the inhabitants be friendly to her? Would there even be any inhabitants? Would she be able to get a place to stay? Nina had absolutely no idea, but she did know that there was not really any alternative available to her. She’d have to interact with whoever lived here at some point if she wanted to know more about wherever she was and if she wanted to find a place to stay, and so she put her worries to the side as she reached the road into town. Taking a deep breath, she turned in the direction of the town, and continued walking.

Fortunately for Nina, her journey into the town was… pretty much uneventful. She caught a few glimpses of people working the fields – they seemed human, at least – and the occasional passer-by on the road who would nod their head or raise a hand in greeting at her, but for the rest the walk was quiet.

The same could not be said for the town itself, of course. It was, after all, very much alive, with people walking up and down the streets going about their daily business, leaving Nina to try and find her way through the occasional mass of people as she explored the town. She had no clue on where to go, but she was also not really in any hurry to get to anywhere specific, so she took her time to wander, trying to explore the town and look for places of interest. So far, she had found what appeared to be a blacksmith and a clothier, but without any proper money she knew that it would not be that worthwhile to visit either of them. Instead, she was looking for an inn. Or a church. Or a library. An Inn would likely be the most understanding to her currency issue since she could pass herself off as a clueless traveller and get some information on currency that way. A library would let her research things, and a church… well, she felt a strange hesitation inside herself whenever she considered going to one, but at the same time a church could potentially provide hospitality to her. Perhaps she could also go to-

Her thoughts were interrupted as she promptly crashed into someone, letting out a surprised yelp as she stumbled backwards, losing her footing and landing on her rear.  
“Oh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A feminine voice called out.  
“I-I’m fine. It’s my fault. Are you alright?” Nina responded quietly as she looked up at the source of the voice. It was a woman, she was taller than Nina and had long, flowing blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. The green dress she wore looked to be quite well-made, it reached down to below her knees, and was decorated with silver stars around the waist. In her left hand, she held a book, while her right was extended towards Nina to help her up. With a smile, Nina took said hand, letting the woman pull her to her feet.  
“I’m quite fine, don’t worry. I wasn’t looking where I was going, I was too invested in this book I just bought.” The woman admitted, an apologetic look on her face as she looked Nina over for a moment. “What’s your name?”  
“Uhm… Nina. Nina Whiteleaf.” Nina responded with a smile. “I’m a traveller, arrived here today, can I ask for directions?” She then added, looking up at the woman, who slowly began to smile excitedly.  
“A traveller? I thought your clothes looked unfamiliar already!” The woman began. “And sure, I’m happy to give directions, but first, have you found a place to stay yet, Miss Whiteleaf?”  
“No, actually. I only just got here... and finding a place to stay might be an issue. But please, just call me Nina, miss…?”  
“Oh, sorry! My name is Tamella Mares. And why might finding a place to stay be difficult, Nina?” Tamella asked, her face betraying her excitement and curiosity. Frowning a little, Nina took a moment to try and come up with her best excuse.  
“I… lost most of my money. Most of everything, really. Bandits.” She lied, sighing softly when Tamella seemed to believe everything.  
“That’s horrible! I hope you aren’t hurt?” The woman asked, a look of concern on her face. Immediately, Nina was hit with a pang of guilt, but she managed to not show it on her face.  
“I don’t know… I’m at least not bleeding or anything… but I am struggling with remembering anything.” She said, sighing softly.  
“Memory issues? That doesn’t sound good… tell you what, come with me. I might be able to help.” Tamella offered with a smile.  
“Uhm… sure? How can you help, though? Are you a doctor?”  
“Not quite a formal doctor, but I brew potions and make medicine, among other things. You can stay at my place for the time being, too.”  
“Oh that’s… that’s very nice of you…” Nina said softly, a grateful smile on your face. “Uhm… please lead the way, then.”

With a cheerful smile, Tamella did just that, and began to lead Nina through the town, crossing a bridge over the river she had seen before, and leaving the town. It had not occurred to Nina that the woman might live outside the town… but it honestly made sense now that she thought about it. At the very least, though Tamella did not live too far away from the town, as she led Nina down the road and then onto a path that lead to a small house on the edge of a small patch of woods. The house was mainly made of wood but had a small stone tower attached to it that instantly drew Nina’s curiosity. She wondered what is was for and made a mental note to ask Tamella about it later as she opened the door for Nina, letting her step inside.

The first room a rather big one, and Nina figured it was probably both the living and dining room. It was nicely decorated, with a comfortable looking couch, a large table with six chairs and some bookshelves. Most of the room was taken by many potted plants, however, and they were not just flowers either. Nina could recognize some as being ingredients for potions, though she could not quite tell where she had gained that knowledge form. Had she dabbled in potions herself in the past, or did she just study these things?

“Well, welcome to my humble home, Nina.” Tamella said, putting the book she was carrying down on the table. “If you want, I can give you a small tour. I have a spare room you can use.”  
“Oh, that would be appreciated! I was curious already about the tower I saw.”  
“Ah, that! The spare room I mentioned is actually in there, funnily enough. It was originally my study and workplace until I had to expand, so I had an extension built onto the house and repurposed it into a spare bedroom.” The woman explained, gesturing for Nina to follow her as she opened one of the doors, leading her into a circular room with a spiral staircase in the middle. Beyond the staircase, the room was empty, leaving plenty of room for things to be stored here. With a smile, Nina began to climb the stairs up, followed by Tamella, until they reached the floor above.

Up here, in the top of the tower, was a decently sized bedroom. It had a bed that looked rather comfortable, a nightstand, a desk and a closet, as well as three large windows. One on every side except the house side, and one in the roof.  
“Wow, this is really nice! Your bedroom must be incredible if this is your spare one.” Nina said, looking up through the window at the sky. By now, it was late in the afternoon, almost dinnertime. She figured that this window would be great for stargazing at night, an activity she felt oddly drawn to.  
“I agree, it’s a really nice room, but I prefer sleeping on the ground floor so I don’t have to climb down these stairs or up these stairs when I’m sleepy.” Tamella admitted, making Nina chuckle.  
“That makes a lot of sense, honestly. But thank you for offering this room to me, it’s really, really nice.”  
“You’re welcome. Shall I leave you to get settled in while I prepare a simple dinner, or do you want to see the rest of the house first?” The woman then asked, leaving Nina to think for a moment.  
“I… want to see the rest of the house first. Also… uhm… do you maybe have some kind of notebook and a pen or anything I could borrow? I want to write down my thoughts and keep track of things.” Nina asked, to which Tamella nodded.  
“I do, yes. I’ll grab one for you later. I’ll show you the house first.”

With a smile, the duo descended the stairs again as Tamella showed Nina her home. Beyond the main room, there was a kitchen which held everything Nina expected a kitchen to have, a reading room with a large glass roof and a very big couch underneath it – which Tamella explained was so she could listen to the rain hitting it while reading, or for looking up at the stars. Beyond that, Tamella also had a washroom and large garden that seemed to mostly be for crops and herbs instead of flowers. Nina could recognize most of them, a fact that seemed to intrigue the woman, likely as curious as Nina on where the girl learned this.

The last room Tamella showed Nina was her workshop – the woman explained that she wasn’t going to show Nina her bedroom since it was a mess and there wasn’t really a reason for Nina to go there, which the girl agreed made sense. The workshop was the second largest room in the house, and was made out of stone, standing out from the rest of the house almost as much as the tower, though it was hidden behind the house, explaining why Nina did not see it before. In here, there were plenty of bookshelves, shelves lined with jars holding all sorts of things, and plenty of racks of bottles. Not only that, there was plenty of equipment here that Nina could only guess was for making potions and medicine.

After the tour, the woman gave Nina what she had asked for earlier, a small book with a pen to write her notes and thoughts in. Giving Tamella her thanks, Nina then went up to her room as the woman started on dinner, the delicious smell of soup eventually beginning to fill the room as Nina laid on her bed, thinking about the day.

Nina was… very grateful for Tamella’s hospitality, and the first thing she wrote in her notebook was ‘Find a way to repay Tamella’. Had it not been for the woman’s generosity, Nina would likely have struggled to find a place to stay and a meal to eat. Instead, she now had a place to sleep and think, a book to write things in, and meals to eat. Still, she struggled with her memory issues, unable to remember anything concrete from her life before this morning. She remembered knowing certain things, like how certain things worked, how to write, and things related to potions… but she did not know where she knew them from. But she was sure she would find out one way or another just… who exactly she was. What happened to her. All the important details about her life.

But all that would have to wait, of course. After all, according to Tamella’s shout, dinner was ready. Heading downstairs to join the woman, she was greeted by the delicious smell of soup. Thanking her hostess for the meal, Nina sat down to eat.  
“This is pretty good! You’re a good cook, Tamella.” Nina said, causing Tamella to blush a little at the praise.  
“It’s nothing special… but I’m glad you like it. Are you still having memory issues?”  
“Unfortunately, yeah… maybe it’ll get better tomorrow, though, so I’ll be going to sleep early I think.”  
“That sounds like a good idea, I might have something that can help with memory issues but I’ll need to check, but have you figured out what you’ll do if your memory doesn’t recover?”  
“I’m… honestly not sure.” Nina said, falling silent for a moment as she ate some more soup, thinking about the question. “I think I’ll try and make a living by doing something, for one. I didn’t remember anything about brewing potions until you brought it up and everything, so I think that like… trying out things like that might refresh my memory, you know?”  
“Oh, you mean like, if someone brings up a thing, you wonder if it will refresh your memory on that thing?”  
“Sort of.” Nina said, smiling. “I didn’t remember things about potions immediately, but I did once I saw the plants and your equipment. I figure that it might be the same for other things. Maybe I’ll remember being good at something, and I can try doing that to make some money. I’ll probably need it, all I have is this.” The girl explained, putting the coins she’d found in her pockets on the table. Tamella took them to inspect them as Nina continued to eat.  
“These aren’t coins from here, so they’re probably coins from whatever country you came from. Maybe the goldsmith is willing to trade these with you, though, they look like genuine gold and silver coins. You won’t be getting much for them, but it’s a start.”  
“That sounds like a good idea, I’ll do that tomorrow.”

The two then finished the rest of the meal mostly in silence, with Tamella occasionally talking about what she did for a living. She made medicine for people in town, and potions for travelling merchants to sell elsewhere and for adventurers to use. After the meal, Nina helped the woman with the dishes, before wishing her a goodnight as she went upstairs to rest. And almost immediately upon hitting the bed did Nina fall asleep.

Her first night’s dreams would only end up giving her more questions.

**Author's Note:**

> So! Thank you for reading this far in! This is my first public work, and I'm a little nervous about it. Feedback is appreciated!


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